Okay, as I stated in my response in the other thread, I am working on getting my CFI-S. I am going to be a part time instructor at a local club that is primarily light sport aircraft. However, we were recently told the club is going to be adding a Tecnam P2006T twin to the fleet since they have had a fairly decent influx in students looking to get to a commercial rating/the airlines. FWIW I am a Comm, Multi, Inst rated pilot.

Since I'm already looking to just be a part time instructor, I've heard that being an MEI is another one of those instructor positions that works well for those who only instruct weekends and some evenings due to the fact that almost all students are just looking to make it an add on rating in the steps to becoming a professional pilot.

My question is though, will having done the CFI-S ride before allow some of the tasks to be removed from the checkride? If you look through the MEI PTS on the FAA site, there is a chart that stipulates which tasks can be skipped over depending on what other CFI tickets you have. Unfortunately CFI-S is not listed. I'm assuming this is due to one of two things: its an oversight because the FAA essentially forgets about Sport Pilot at times, or, its intentional (which would be dumb in my opinion, but also not surprising knowing the FAA) and the FAA would make you do the whole ride as if you were getting an MEI as your initial cert.

If you look at both the CFI for ASE and CFI-S for airplane, many of the tasks overlap, so it shoulddddddd make sense that some of the tasks would not be required for the MEI. I realize this is likely a question I would need to ask the FSDO, but I also know there is a lot of experience here so I figured I would check here first.

This is a question not so much for the FSDO as for the DPE. When I give practical tests, I am required to write up and follow a Plan of Action for each applicant. Required tasks are dictated by the ACS or PTS, leaving little discretion to the examiner as to what can be skipped and what must be covered. We have a requirement to include scenarios in each practical test, and have flexibility in devising the scenario, but not the tasks or performance standards which the scenario will encompass. So no, you should not expect any tasks to be skipped just because you hold a CFI-S. And I don't presume to speak for FAA, but I don't believe this is an oversight - I think they want AMEL instructors to have experience training students in all ASEL areas, not just those included in the SP PTS.

The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.Prof H Paul ShuchPhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMTAvSport LLC, KLHVfly@AvSport.orgAvSport.org facebook.com/SportFlyingSportPilotExaminer.US

A MEI is covered under CFR 61 subpart H, which is for instructors other than sport instructors. The only thing I see with a quick read through is that you should not need to re-take the FOI knowledge test, because it give credit for instructors who hold a rating under "this part", and sport pilot instructor is under CFR 61.

The CFI-S is not structured to do additional ratings like the subpart H instructor. It allows for addition of different categories, but they are not considered additional ratings.

I suspect that you will have to take the initial flight instructor MEI knowledge test, instead of the added rating test. I also suspect that your practical test will be treated as an initial for the MEI rating, other than they may not do as much on the fundamentals of instruction.

This is just my thoughts on this. I am a CFI, but not a DPE. I suspect you will have to go to your FSDO or higher to get a definitive answer.

The MEI PTS probably predates sport pilot rules. Same as others I'm guessing you won't need to retake the FOI written. One other benefit as it isn't an initial CFI ride you might have more flexibility in examiner choice.

The CHARTS the OP mentions that is a table depicting allowable omissions. These tables were created during a period of time when the FAA ADAMANTLY PROHIBITED INSTRUCTION FROM SPORT CFI's BEING COUNTED AT ALL TOWARD HIGHER RATINGS. The omission of Sport time was onpurpose to comply with the FAA letter from their Legal Department that caused that time to not be counted.

Thank God that period has passed. Now, time with a Sport CFI can be credited toward every higher pilots license. As of right now, the tables/charts have not been revised in the publications. In their next revision, I'm sure some credit will be allowed for Sport training.

An MEI would be issued under subpart H. If you don't already hold a CFI issued under subpart H, then the MEI would be your initial CFI under subpart H. Having a CFI-S would have no bearing other than logged time and experience gained.